Space and time are illusions. So says the Great Cosmic Peanut.
You’ve never encountered the Great Cosmic Peanut? You mean— you’ve never crash-landed your interstellar navigational craft on an uncharted planet and are in desperate need of rescuing? You’ve never even been to space!? Well what are you waiting for? There’s an innovative new theatrical puppet experience, appropriate for all ages and audiences, appearing now at Baltimore Theatre Project— Alex & Olmsted’s Marooned!. A 70-voyage of true wonder and magic in the world of theatrical magic and puppets of all sorts, Marooned! A Space Comedy is devised by Alex Vernon and Sarah Olmsted Thomas, with lighting design Scotty Walker, featuring the music of Voyager Golden Record.
Alex & Olmsted, the devised puppetry-focused work of Alex Vernon and Sarah Olmsted Thomas, brings invigorating new life into inanimate objects. One of the most stellar (or interstellar?) examples of what one might call “breathing living souls into the breathless…WOOSH…” is their work with ATA (Autonomous Task Assistant.) While the show Marooned! is, in a sense, a ‘one-woman’ journey as The Astronaut (played by Sarah Olmsted Thomas) crash-lands and becomes stranded, ATA becomes a living and very much lively secondary character and critical component to the overall experience. Puppeted by Alex Vernon (and Sarah Olmsted Thomas at varying points throughout the performance) ATA has the spark of existence breathed into it by Vernon (and Thomas’) clever movements. ATA itself is practically indescribable without spoiling the joy of watching it come to life, move about, and play with the atmosphere and The Astronaut.
The show encompasses a great many different forms of puppetry— from shadow and silhouette, used with lighting and magnification, to full-body attachment, and stick and marionette. Vernon, who serves as the show’s primary puppeteer (as Thomas spends the majority of the performance in the space suit, which is both authentic in its replication of an ‘outer-space couture’ statement and whimsically creative in bending to the notions of this show), shies away from the full notion of ‘black puppetry’ (the concept of completely obscuring the puppeteer’s body and hands with black sleeves, gloves, etc. so all that can be seen is the puppet in action) to truly showcase that their mesmerizing puppet work is in fact—puppets in action. (In the modern day and age, particularly under the magnified lens feature that Alex & Olmsted use for the ‘space portal’ it would be far too easy to dismiss such genius as ‘video projections’ or some other technology.) Occasionally you will see just the tips of Vernon’s fingers hovering at the top of the portal lens, but you’ll hardly have time to notice as you’ll be so enthralled with what’s happening with the actual puppet.
The myriad of puppets featured in this performance include several space characters (all voiced by Vernon himself with the exception of the Great Cosmic Peanut, voice by Sylvia Vernon) as well as miniature models on sticks and marionette strings—featuring ATA, The Astronaut, the ship, and more. Vernon and Thomas’ movements with the puppets, control of the puppets, and overall interactions with them are truly chimerical and beautiful in this transcendent manner that is both ephemeral in nature and permanently existing in the space between the audiences’ eyes and the stage. Brilliantly magical and truly wondrous in its mesmerizing qualities, the way Vernon brings these marionettes to life, letting Thomas play with them as if they too were characters in The Astronaut’s story is something that must be experienced to be understood. Thomas herself deserves quite the nod for her physical approach to The Astronaut. The intentionally off-balanced movements she makes, with legs and arms, simulate the questionable gravity on this uncharted planet, and although her face remains completely masked (it’s not breathable air on this mystery planet, folks) you never feel as if The Astronaut is lacking in emotion. Particularly as The Astronaut approaches “the void”, Thomas relates to the audience a great many deep emotions through use of impeccable body language.
It’s a remarkable endeavor (and wouldn’t be a true Alex & Olmsted show without even just a little audience interaction— and fear not! Marooned! has that too!) that brings wonder and joy to audiences of all ages. Thomas’ movements, Vernon’s vocal work (and zany mouth-sound-effects) and their combined efforts with puppetry of all sorts make Marooned! A Space Comedy an experience that is truly out of this world.
Running Time: Approximately 70 minutes with no intermission
Marooned! A Space Comedy plays through May 8, 2022 with Alex & Olmsted at Baltimore Theatre Project— 45 W. Preston Street in Baltimore, MD. For tickets call the box office at (410) 752-8558 or purchase them online.
